Monday, December 17, 2012

For the next "installment" of Christmas cards we have a card and a couple of 3-D items:

Reindeer Noses--(computer generated words) and reindeer from punches. Add 8 malted milk balls for the reindeer and a cherry chew for Rudolph's nose and you are set!

The other 3-D item was the Kiss tree that I've already shared here. Everyone loved it! I had to make the pieces for 52 of these babies! =-)

The card on the right is cased from Dawn Olchefske. I didn't have the stamp set she used so I found in my stash of retired stamps Winter Foliage (I think) and it did the trick! If you look carefully you can catch a glimpse or two of the glitter. The background was made using an embossing folder that the top is inked up and then pressed--not run through the Big Shot---I used my brayer to help!

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Here are a few more cards that I offered for the Christmas Card making at my school....

Love this Santa---it was cased from someone, but there was no watermark on her photo. It's adorable so thanks to whomever came up with this chubby fellow!

This is a little too green for my taste, but I do like the focal image--if I were doing it again I would probably make the background a different color! =-) You can't see it, but I used the dazzling details under the skates to look like an icy pond. I got my idea for this from Angie Leach.

The best part of this "card party" time at work is getting people in that are new to stamping! Our P.E. teacher joined me for the first time and is loving it! That's what makes all the work to do it worthwhile!

Friday, December 14, 2012

This was the most popular card of the offerings that I had for the Christmas Card event I held at my school. I cased it from Lorri Heiling--her card was square and a bit different, but basically the same design. Love that country look--especially on the naturals ivory paper.

The second card (on the right) was only chosen by 2 people to do, but it's so easy and striking.

It uses the perfect pennants die--no stamping at all on this one! Cased from Connie Tumm (if I can read her watermark correctly).

I'll talk more about the one on the left tomorrow! =-) Too tired tonight. Time for bed.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

I try every year to offer some Christmas card designs that my coworkers can make if they choose to join me for a Christmas card buffet! I lay out all the cards and items and they fill out an order form and then I cut all the pieces and get a tub ready for them to stamp and create their cards...it's always great fun, but my schedule has been crazy from mid-November until now so it's a little later than I like for it to be! Here are the first couple of cards I displayed:

These cute little wreaths are made from the largest banner die in the Itty Bitty Banners set of framelits. I got the idea from Catherine Pooler on the site Stamp Nation which I would recommend if you are looking for a place with good ideas--there is a monthly fee.

This is my "retired" card. Love this sentiment--it's a set from last year's holiday mini catalog.

The ribbon and the ornaments are also retired. I saw a 1 layer card that had this layout and really liked it.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

We had our monthly Stampin' Up party tonight and it was my turn to demonstrate. There are so many wonderful designers out there that come up with beautiful and creative ideas and I am truly appreciative of their talent! Here are the cards that I demonstrated and then we all made the Kiss Trees.

The first card I demo'd was the twisted easel card that's all the rage online right now--you know--the one with the little battery operated candle behind the vellum window. I was going to totally case several that I saw that used the little deer on Joyous Christmas, but that early espresso embossing powder that I swear I bought last month was nowhere to be found. So I improvised and used my cherry cobbler ep with the ornament in the same set. My DSP is from the holiday catalog--Snow Favorites.

The next card is a little cutie--easy to make card using the stamp set "For the Birds." I love the little skating bird and it fits wonderfully in the labels framelit. The button is from the regals collection and is threaded with the cherry cobbler baker's twine. You can't see it, but I added a bit of clear dazzling details under the tail of the y in merry so it looks "icy" where the bird is skating. The dsp is still from the Snow Favorites collection.

My next card was cased from a RAK that I received last year as a member of VCRocks. Unfortunately I don't remember who sent it, but I loved it and couldn't wait for Christmas to come so I could use it! What made it even better was that the stamp set I used, Come to Bethlehem" is on sale right now (until the 28th) Half Off!

The blue I used was marina mist. You can't see it, but I versamarked the embossing folder before I embossed the cherry cobbler piece and it gave it a deeper, vintagey look!

The last card I demonstrated was an idea I got from Stamp Nation a group that I pay a monthly fee to belong to. This was the owner, Catherine Pooler's, great idea to use the Itty Bitty Banners to cut out pieces to make a 3-D wreath. I added the cherry cobbler seam binding and dazzling details. The greeting is from the set, Greeting of the Season, from the holiday catty.

The paper is from the Festival of Favorites pack in the holiday mini also.

Our make and take was the "Kisses Tree" an idea I found online along with a great tutorial here. They are super easy to make--and cute!

I used the Merry Christmas from "Teeny Tiny Wishes" for the tag. A-dor-a-ble. Kudos to the designer--Brenda Q. On a side note, we discovered that the mint truffle kisses are yummy! Happy stamping! Dawn

Friday, November 16, 2012

Welcome to stop # 6 of our November hop which has the theme of Gratitude! I'm glad you could join us! We are a small, but mighty group and I hope you've enjoyed the hop--you should be arriving here from Creative Designs By Jackie. Wasn't her card beautiful?
I'm the last stop so I'll send you back to the beginning of the hop if you started somewhere in the middle!

When my sister, who loves the craft of writing, was here last year at Thanksgiving she wanted to create a Gratitude Book, but ran out of time. Obviously, I ran out of time also since it's taken almost a full year to get this project done. I used a retired SU spiral bound notebook of blank pages, scraps of the beautiful Orchard Harvest dsp, a leftover piece of my core'dination paper that was a punched out piece from the birthday card I made my daughter earlier this week, and the Day of Gratitude stamp set and a lot of ribbon! Sorry for the shadows....it was a late night picture! =-)

My other project is actually a card that I made for a swap last year. Unfortunately the swap never was distributed and I don't think I ever posted this (maybe I was too disappointed since it was one of my first swaps). Anyway, here's my pumpkin card that I made with the ovals from the now retired scalloped oval bigz die and a circle cut with the now retired circle cutter. This is actually my practice card, but I still like it! It's made to fit in a regular envelope. Notice I used the same sentiment last year as this year---there's a lot of truth held in these words!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Well....the card isn't big--it's the birthday--my daughter Amy (middle child) turned 30 on Wednesday and this is the card I created for her! I got the idea from Darlene Design and made a few revisions according to the supplies that I had on hand. Anyway--Amy got the card on Tuesday so I can show it now. Since it's a moving card she said she was creating a gif (whatever that is) that would show the movement that I could post, but in the meantime--here's the card--I really like how it turned out! =-) Here's the link to the movement of the card shown by my daughter--I can't figure out how to get it on here! =-)

I used the c'oredination paper and the woodgrain embossing folder--I really have trouble with it cracking so I'm going to have to try the vellum trick that I've read about! My balloons were embossed with clear embossing powder and punched with the small oval and 1 1/4" circle punches. The owl holds the card closed--when you turn him you can open the card and it looks like this:

Cute huh? Here's the deal with the owls....I made about 150 of these little boogers when I making a swap for SU convention last year. Then I got pneumonia and couldn't go so I have all the parts--not put together. So I'm always looking for ways to use my owls! Ha!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

I was going to make the witch's broom that's been all the rage on the internet for my class this year, but 2 days before Halloween I saw a post by Heather here and just had to make these sweet bats! My first graders had just finished a study of bats and had them hanging upside down in the classroom as well as a story that they had written hanging outside in the hallway. Fortunately the hardest part was coming up with a pattern that worked with some candy that I'd already purchased--and then getting all 24 of them cut out! =-) Then I took the pictures of them being made step by step, but the next day when I went to put them on my computer...alas and alack! I hadn't put my photo card back in my camera. Last Thursday when I put my card in my camera they were put from my camera onto my card! Yay! Now I can share them...

Friday, November 9, 2012

I had a bunch of fall cards ready to demonstrate at this month's SU party, but our hostess is out of town until after Thanksgiving....so I have to do something with all these wonderful ideas! Right??
I decided that I'm having a "card buffet!" Anyone who wants to come to my house to make some fall cards just needs to let me know which ones they want to order at $1.50 a piece or 4/$5.00 and I'll have the supplies ready for them next Friday evening or Saturday afternoon, November 16 and 17--just in time to get them mailed! =-) Here are the cards they can choose from--all totally cased from other super talented people!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

I totally case'd this card from one that I found about a year ago and sent it to my dad as he was recovering from a recent surgery. It's not a card that I'd want to make a lot of since there were so many pieces, but the finished product was pretty striking I thought. And as I tell my first graders--"rainbow" is my favorite color--I wouldn't want to play favorites! I can't find the original picture, but I'll give credit here when I find it!

I had to snap a quick shot of it before I mailed it. I've been sending a lot of cards before I take a photo and then I have nothing to show here...

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Wow! One of my friends commented at our last Stampin' Up party that I hadn't posted since August 12th! That's what happens when your internet at home is intermittent at best, you have sinus surgery and school starts all in one fell swoop....but as Sheldon Cooper (character on Big Bang Theory) says in one of his shows....."I'm Baaaa.....aaack! =-)
You should have arrived here from Jackie Watson's Creative Designs --Wasn't her card gorgeous!
I love fall, fall colors and all the cutesy things for Halloween so I did both!

For Halloween I created a card based on one that I saw posted using a stamp set from another company, I loved it so here it is using a retired SU set "Pumpkin Faces." The little candy basket is made out of a toilet paper roll (sans toilet paper of course--ha!) and decorated with Howlstooth and Scaringbone SU designer series paper. The spider is from Googly Ghouls. Here's a link on how to make one for yourself! So cute and easy!

For my Fall stuff I decorated a candle that I picked up in the clearance aisle at our grocery store with the new Orchard Harvest DSP from the holiday catalog and the stamp set Day of Gratitude and then made a fall basket using the same things--I think these little baskets would work for every season!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Knot! I found directions to tying this knot on someone's stamping blog and have used it a couple of times--once with a sailboat card that I don't think I got a picture of and this one with the ship image from Open Sea.

The next card is a CASE of a card that I saw in a little shop in Fort Scott, KS. There was a whole rack of Stampin Up cards and wonderful crafts made by a local person. I really liked a couple (really more than that) and came home to copy if as soon as I could.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Last Christmas, part of the gift for my mom was to be a set of cards. She was supposed to get them from me in February (she picked out what she wanted in December) but I never seemed to have time to get them made. So as I was recovering from pneumonia I finally got them done. I made a ton of cards and my mom chose hers and then there were enough leftover for my sister and sister-in-law to have some too. I'll try to show you the cards 2 at a time over the next few days....

Here are the first two--keep in mind that some of these use retired stamps, dsp or sentiments from other companies (my mom and sisters chose what they wanted):

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Love the summer smooches dsp and the matching Bright Blossoms stamp set. That's what I chose for my second swap card--which is a totally different style--bright with cleaner lines than my first swap I showed you yesterday.

The framelit is from the new Apothecary collection and the thanks is from Kindness Matters. Add a little bling and bam! Colors used were: Pacific Point, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade and Whisper White. I'll be back tomorrow with my swap for a Wow card that I made--didn't get most made up due to getting sick, but boy do I have all the pieces for it everywhere!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

....with swaps, when you have no one to swap with? Here's my first card that I created--yes--I'm in shock here too, but I worked on coming up with some original ideas for once and am pretty pleased with the results, but, back to my first sentence. I don't need 27 identical friend cards and 27 identical thank you cards. To be honest they are card fronts, but that's a minor detail! Ha!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Stampin' Up Convention is this week. I was supposed to go there and have the time of my life with Deb. That all changed when I got the news that my 3 days of high fever equalled a diagnosis of pneumonia. I'm not going anywhere--except the Dr.'s office. Hopefully not the hospital if the meds do their trick. So not only am I out the money I paid for the convention registration, but I've also got to figure out what to do with all the swaps I created. I haven't posted in awhile because I was busy creating......hmm....at least I didn't go crazy and make a huge amount! I'll be back soon when I feel better to post pictures of them.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

So, my daughter is in town for a week and she has been blogging for much longer than I have been. She was able to show me how to put a connection to the catalog and my DBWS. Yay! I've been wanting to add those links for awhile, but wasn't sure how to do it--thanks Amy!!

The card I'm sharing today was one that I found on Facebook--it was a video that was shared there by Erin Gonzalez of Hand Stamped Style. This is a link to her blog--the directions/video for this card is on her facebook page so you'll have to "like" it to get to it. I thought that the card looked fun and easy, but it ended up taking me far too long to do the flower for it to be a demonstratable card. (I think I just made up that word).

The flower is made with the Blossom Petals Builder punch. Stamp sets used were Betsy's Blossom and Perfectly Penned.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

I'm loving the look of banners that is "in" right now in stamping AND I also love rainbow colors--always have! So here's a card I saw and cased, but don't know who to give credit to since there wasn't a watermark on the card picture. So if it's your card--let me know and I'll link to your blog! Here it is--a fun and easy card:

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

It's been a busy 2 weeks since I last posted! I did a bunch of work in my house getting ready for the Hoffman family reunion, painted, cleaned, put up over 125 dozen ears of corn, hosted 55 people for 3 meals in my home, and demonstrated for a Stampin' Up party.

Here are the cards demonstrated--sorry to those of you who have been waiting for me to get them posted! My first card highlighted the new set, Storybook Friends and the Labels framelits.

The colors I used were bashful blue, chocolate chip, very vanilla and watercolor paper.

The next card I made was all about the new in colors--this card used summer starfruit, raspberry ripple and midnight muse on very vanilla paper. I used the stamp set Betsy's Blossom.

The sentiment is from a new set--Lacey and Lovely (which I got for the sentiments more than the doily like stamps).

The next card is a fun one that I got from Dawn's Stamping Thoughts here--it's called a Peek-a-Boo card. It's fun and easy to make and has a wow factor to it!

It's a bit hard to photograph, but here it is closed.

Starting to open--see the sentiments moving across the original view of stamps.

And fully open. I used the stamp sets Bright Blossoms and Petite Pairs.

The 4th card demonstrated was this one: I had borrowed the lattice die from my friend, Deb (thanks again!) and used it to create a background. I then added the flower strip using Raining Flowers. I used a base color that I don't use very often--Elegant Eggplant.

And last but not least--the hostess, Valerie, had seen the larger chickens that I'd made from ovals and wanted me to try and make a card from materials that were not retired. It was a bit hard since all of the Big Shot dies with ovals were retired, but I got a mini chicken made with the extra large oval. I made an easel card using the heart framelits and the chicken is made from the new polka dot dsp.

I made the tags from the Tiny Tags set. The comb of the chicken is made from the heart on the owl punch and the beak is from one of the flowers on the Boho Blossoms punch. The wing is the small heart punch and the eye is a tiny pearl with a dot on it from a black Sharpie. The texture on the white heart was made with my diagonal score board from SU.

Apologies to those of you who have been waiting to see the cards we made! Enjoy!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Hi! Welcome to the 21st stop on the VC Rocks Blog Hop 2! This blog hop is all about "Any Size Card!" I love seeing what everyone has created---don't you? You should be arriving here from Krafting with Karen. I just love the Hostess set "Four Seasons" that she used for her creation! If you get lost on the way please head to home base for VC Rocks and you'll find a listing of all of us participating.
Here are the cards I'm sharing:

I made a set of four 3x3 cards using the stamp set Lean on Me. I used watercolor paper, ink pads and a blender pen to color the pictures, then cut them out using the Label Framelits. I made a little scallop box (instructions found here) out of the new Natural Composition Specialty paper. It's a bit heavier weight than the other dsp--so it was great for a box! You can't tell in the photo, but the design on it is embossed. I tried to change up each of the ways I made a background for the framelits.

On the card on the left I backed with 2 decorative label punches in basic black and on the right I sponged with soft suede and added a cherry cobbler seam binding ribbon (can I say that ribbon is so frustrating to work with!!) It frays when you look at it!

The card on the left I just mounted on black and added some of the Fashionable Hearts embosslits and on the right I used 2 more label framelits (same size as main image) and offset them for a small border in pool party. The ribbon is Regal Rose 1/8" taffeta.

Here's the box with the cards and envelopes in it--ready to give as a little present to someone. It's all tied up with Basic Black Scallop Dot ribbon. The label uses a sentiment from "A Word for You" punched out with the scalloped oval, mounted on a basic black decorative label punch. The heart is from the owl punch. =-)

Now it's time to head to the next stop--Must Love Stampin' --you have to check out the adorable shaped cards that Gwyn has created! Happy Summer Stamping!

Friday, June 15, 2012

No card today--I'm too busy playing with Brody, my 11 month old grandson. Everytime I see him he has grown and changed. He's a delight to spend time with--such a happy boy. Today Abby (my DIL), Brody and I went to a garage sale and look what we found! A drum set! Just what every little boy needs in his life--noisemakers!!

I'll be back late tonight or early tomorrow with my post for the 2nd VC Rocks blog hop of 2012.